The Russian offensive hardens in Ukraine, Sunday, February 27. On the fourth day of the attack launched by Vladimir Putin, the battle for Kiev continues. Anti-aircraft alarm sirens sounded in the capital on the night of Saturday to Sunday, the official Special Communications Service said, calling on residents to take refuge in shelters in the capital. Russian forces “continue their offensive to lock Kiev” after having “completed their regrouping” on the northern front, for its part affirmed the Ukrainian army on Saturday evening.
To the east, in Kharkiv, local authorities said on Sunday morning that the Russian army had made an advance, reporting that heavy fighting was taking place in this city, the second in the country. “There was a breakthrough of the light vehicles of the Russian enemy in the city of Kharkiv, including in the central part”wrote on Facebook a local official, Oleg Singoubov, indicating that the fighting was continuing and calling on the approximately 1.4 million inhabitants not to leave their homes.
At the same time, the Russian army claimed on Sunday morning to have surrounded two major cities in southern Ukraine, Kherson and Berdiansk. “In the past 24 hours, the Russian armed forces have completely blocked the cities of Kherson and Berdyansk”which have 290,000 and 110,000 inhabitants respectively, said the Russian Ministry of Defense, quoted by the TASS agency.
The Russian army was ordered Saturday afternoon to step up operations in Ukraine, saying Kiev had refused negotiations. “All units have been ordered to expand the offensive in all directions, in accordance with the offensive plan”Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
Westerners reacted on Saturday by adopting a new set of tougher sanctions: they decided in particular to exclude many Russian banks from the Swift interbank platform, an essential cog in global finance, announced the German government, which chairs the G7 forum. This action “will prevent banks from carrying out most of their global financial transactions, and as a result, Russian exports and imports will be blocked”insisted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.